Army strength decreased substantially during fiscal year 1970, from 1,512,169
to 1,322,548. The drop reflected the inactivation of 2 1/3 divisions withdrawn
from Vietnam and a lower trainee population at the close of the year. The end-of-year
strength included 166,721 officers, 1,153,013 enlisted personnel, and 2,814
cadets. (Strength figures include reimbursable personnel except where otherwise
indicated. Reimbursable personnel are those performing duty with other government
agencies and for whose services the Army receives reimbursement from the using
agency.) There were about 39,500 officer accessions during the year, and closing
strength in this category showed the first decrease since 1963. A total of 198,700
men were inducted into the Army, and 177,300 men and women enlisted for the
first time. Compared with fiscal year 1969, these figures represented a decrease
of about 56,000 inductions and 23,600 first enlistments.

In Vietnam, Army strength dropped for the first time since the start of the
American buildup there. Operating strength decreased from about 361,000 to around
299,000 as the fiscal year closed. Three redeployments totaling 58,789 Army
military personnel were completed during the year, and plans were made for a
fourth to be completed in October 1970.

ACCESSION OF OFFICERS BY SOURCE IN FISCAL YEAR 1970

Source

Service academies

707

Reserve Officers' Training Corps

15,803

Officer Candidate School

8,970

Voluntary active duty

2,358

Professional (JAG, WAC, MSC, CHAP)

929

Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps

3,132

Regular Army appointments (from civil life)

26

Miscellaneous a

588

Nurses and medical specialists

1,488

Warrant officers

5.502

Total b

39,503

a Includes administrative gains such as recall
from retired list and interservice transfer (includes 250 unidentified accessions).b Excludes reimbursable personnel.

The assignment of top quality officers to adviser duty in Vietnam became increasingly
important as the Vietnamization program expanded. To the Province Senior Adviser
Program, already estab-

54

lished, was added a District Senior Adviser Program. Both are considered key
assignments requiring careful personnel nomination and selection. Tour lengths
are twelve months with a six-month extension option for deserving officers.
Various incentives are offered, including special considerations concerning
leave, duty assignment, subsequent duty preference, schooling, family housing,
and special pay. As the year closed an intelligence adviser program was being
developed.

The total number of warrant officers decreased from 23,729 to 23,007 during
the year. About 49 percent of authorized warrant officer positions were in Army
aviation specialties. Over 1,700 warrant officers who demonstrated exceptional
abilities and potential were awarded direct commissions.

Over 177,000 men and women entered the Army on first enlistments in fiscal
year 1970. Although this was less than in 1969, it still represented a larger
proportion of total nonprior-service gains47 percent as compared to the
45 percent achieved last year.

Project 100,000, the program under which the Army accepts 12 percent of its
new recruits from those previously disqualified for service because of mental
or physical deficiencies, continued to function as a part of the over-all enlisted
procurement program. Another effort, the intensified recruitment program, was
concentrated on obtaining men from areas of high unemployment. Over 7,900 men
were enlisted from designated poverty areas in forty-three major cities and
the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Two new enlisted options were established to attract men and women to an Army
career. Designed to take advantage of civilian-acquired skills and based on
a recognition of the fact that all enlisted personnel need not enter at the
bottom, the options seek to attract individuals with medical or construction
skills qualifying them for rapid advancement to grades E-4 or E-5. Men with
three years of experience in the building trades, for example, are appointed
to E-5 upon completion of basic combat training and assigned to the construction
foreman skill development base course for supervisory training.

Moreover, since two-year college-level technical and vocational schools offer
a valuable source of technically trained personnel, military occupational specialties
were being reviewed to see which ones could be awarded directly to graduates
of these schools. A pilot procurement program along this line should be operational
by the fall of 1971.

General public dissatisfaction with alleged inequities in the Selective Service
System generated several draft reforms during the

55

year. Following the enactment of Public Law 91-124, which amended the Military
Selective Service Act of 1967, Executive Order Number 11497, issued on November
26, 1969, directed that a random selection system (lottery draft) be established.
A national drawing was held in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1969. Under
the new system, put into effect on January 1, 1970, the random selection sequence
determined the order of selection for military training and service of all
eligible registrants who were between nineteen and twenty-six years old on January
1, 1970. On April 23, 1970, Executive Order No. 11527 announced additional reforms
to make the system more equitable by ending all future occupational and paternity
deferments, except in cases of genuine hardship. Concurrently, a presidential
message to Congress requested legislative authority to phase out student deferments
except for officer training programs such as ROTC, and to establish draft calls
on the basis of a national sequence of numbers.

These reforms increased the size of the eligible manpower pool, sought to equalize
induction liability, and blunted some of the criticisms of the selection process.

The elimination of occupational deferments will result in the loss to the civilian
economy of some personnel with usable civilian skills, and the number of junior
enlisted personnel with dependents can be expected to increase with the ending
of future paternity deferments. The abolition of future student deferments proposed
by the President will have a major impact on the Army, especially in the area
of officer procurement. The proposal to establish draft calls on the basis of
a national sequence of numbers will have little effect on the Army other than
possibly to improve the attitude of draftees as a result of the more equitable
selection procedures.

The presidential commission studying the subject of an all-volunteer armed
force concluded that it is both feasible and desirable. To achieve this ultimate
goal, the Army created a task group to study, develop, co-ordinate, and monitor
actions designed to reduce reliance on the draft. These efforts are expected
to increase the attractiveness of the service and move the Army toward an all-volunteer
force.

Work was under way to implement approved actions which do not require legislation
or increased funding. Others await further study, funds, or legislative authority.

A significant number of college graduates were inducted into the Army following
the termination of graduate deferments. The Army made every effort to assign
them to activities that made use of their prior training, education, experience,
and leadership po-

56

tential, to the benefit of both the individual and the military service. A
survey of Army positions and occupational specialties identified three categories
of skill against which college graduates could be considered: priority I embraces
skills that can be correlated to academic fields or personal preferences of
college graduates, such as officer training, scientific or engineering fields,
or language training; priority II consists of skills that challenge the leadership
or technical capabilities of college men, such as combat arms potential, radar
technology, or automatic data processing. Priority III comprises skills that
are essential but do not challenge or make use of the background of the average
college graduate, for example, driver, cook, or shoe repairman. Of the 32,280
college graduates inducted in fiscal year 1970, 19,676 (61 percent) were given
assignments in priority I, 12,604 (39 percent) in priority II, and none in priority
III.

Nearly 187,000 men have been accepted by the Army under Project 100,000, the
enlisted procurement program. Thirty percent of the men had a reading ability
below fifth grade level and had to have remedial reading instruction to help
them qualify in basic and advanced training. Otherwise, these men were trained
in courses at regular training centers and schools. They were trained and assigned
in about 145 military occupational specialties, about 125 of which are related
to civilian-type skills and trades. As the year closed, 41 percent were assigned
to combat skills and 59 percent in support skills. Over 95 percent of the men
accepted under this program are performing adequately in their jobs.

In addition to programs like Project 100,000, which are designed to prepare
individuals to be better soldiers, the Army has administered several programs
to help military personnel make a smooth transition back to civilian life, taking
with them some skills that would assure them a reasonable opportunity for employment.
Project Transition has afforded many Army personnel the opportunity to sort
out and take advantage of occupational options within the service that could
be applied upon return to civilian life. In the past fiscal year this program,
involving counseling, skill and educational training, and job placement information,
operated at 55 installations in the continental United States. Some 114,000
separating soldiers have taken advantage of Project Transition training since
the program's inception in 1968, and 5,000 were participating in the closing
month of fiscal year 1970.

On June 1, 1970, a Department of Defense referral program began operation.
It is designed to enhance the employment opportunities of the 65,000 to 70,000
servicemen who retire from the

57

armed forces annually after serving twenty to thirty years in uniform. The
Army has made this a part of its unfunded retirement services program. To the
extent that resources allow, this service assists retirees in their move to
a second career. It improves communication between them and prospective employers,
and complements retention programs by providing desirable services to those
who elect a full career.

In line with a continuing effort to simplify the procedures of the Army Personnel
Information System, a new technique to automate source data was developed and
field tested during the fall of 1969. Called Mark Sense Data Automation, it
employs mark sense forms and optical mark readers to capture and reduce data
to computer-usable form. The test confirmed the accuracy, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness
of the technique, and it was approved for Army-wide application in the Military
Personnel Information System beginning in fiscal year 1971.

In November 1969 a centralized transient account system was established under
which the responsibility of accounting for transients was transferred from
units and data processing activities at major command and Army levels to Headquarters,
Department of the Army. Under the new procedure, personnel accounting procedures
are correlated with the physical presence of the individual. Personnel departing
on a permanent change of station are dropped from the losing unit's morning
report on the day of departure, and are not added to the gaining unit's morning
report strength until the reporting date specified in the reassignment orders
or the date of physical arrival, whichever occurs first. Thus units are no longer
accountable for an extended period after an individual departs or for any period
prior to his arrival.

Although the Army has led the nation in providing and insuring equality of
opportunity and treatment for all personnel, recent events in the military services,
coupled with unrest in civilian communities and educational institutions, demonstrated
the need for a comprehensive reassessment of the Army's Equal Opportunity and
Treatment of Military Personnel Program. A broad assessment was conducted by
the Army Staff and the program was expanded and intensified. Briefings on racial
tension in the Army were presented to commanders in Europe, the Pacific, and
the Canal Zone, as well as to general officers and key staff members in the
departmental headquarters and the Continental Army Command. Personnel of all
grades and races participated in equal opportunity and racial tension seminars
at numerous headquarters and installations during December 1969 and January
1970, culminating in a

58

seminar at the Continental Army Command headquarters in February 1970. This
command was directed to develop a course of instruction in race relations for
presentation at training centers and service schools beginning in fiscal year
1971. The instruction is designed to develop among all personnel an understanding
of the basic factors in race relations, the causes of tension, and steps to
foster harmony among all personnel.

The Secretary of the Army in a speech before the Association of the United
States Army in October 1969 identified some areas of concern and some of the
measures that would get at the roots of the problem. Among them was the need
to emphasize the personal responsibility of each leader for racial harmony
among his men; to improve communication on racial matters; to understand the
Negro soldier's interests and recognize his contributions to the Army; to improve
Army-community relations; to advance interpersonal relations through training
programs and service school courses; and to improve the prospects for minority
group personnel when they complete military service.

Numerous other measures were undertaken throughout the Army to correct inequalities
and improve relations. The variety of merchandise stocked in post exchanges
and the literature carried in libraries and on newsstands were expanded to
encompass the needs and tastes of members of minority groups. Along this line,
attention was given to the type and variety of entertainment offered in clubs,
and the portrayal of minority group personnel and their achievements in publications
and films. Recruitment of minority group junior officers was also emphasized.

The results of these Army-wide efforts were encouraging. Yet personnel turnover,
with an influx of socially conscious youths, creates a continuing challenge
in a complex situation, and much may be done in the military to improve racial
harmony and continue to set an example for other segments of American society.
Housing is as important to the morale and welfare of military personnel as the
equal opportunity, educational, and counseling programs outlined above. Based
on long-range strength and deployment estimates, the Army needs 355,743 family
housing units. With available assets of 218,756 units on and off post, a sizable
deficit exists. Allowing for program safety factors, the deficit totals 63,800
units. Only 1,700 units will be funded under the fiscal year 1971 program, and
such a small annual increment does not permit significant progress in reducing
the deficit or promise sufficient housing to accommodate the proposed all-volunteer
Army.

There is also a substantial deficit in bachelor housing for offi-

59

cers and enlisted men around the world. Army personnel are still housed in
obsolete World War II buildings at many locations. About 32,000 new bachelor
officer quarters spaces and 230,000 enlisted men's barracks spaces are needed.
Deficits at permanent installations in the continental United States, Alaska,
Hawaii, and the Canal Zone amount to about 13,000 spaces for officers and 123,000
enlisted barracks spaces. To overcome the backlog, annual outlays of $100 million
for barracks and $50 million for bachelor officers' quarters would be required
over the next ten years.

Military Justice, Discipline, and Legal
Affairs

The Military Justice Act of 1968 became fully effective on August 1, 1969.
Changes in the Uniform Code of Military justice improved both the efficiency
and fairness of the military judicial system. Additional Judge Advocate General's
Corps officers needed to provide for requirements under the act were at their
duty stations by the close of the year. The use of lawyer counsel and military
judges has significantly improved trials by special courts-martial. Military
judges are being detailed to approximately 85 percent of the special courts-martial
in the Army, and it is anticipated that this figure will increase. The provision
for trial by the military judge alone is being used extensively at both special
and general courts-martial. About 95 percent of the special courts-martial to
which military judges are detailed and 86 percent of the general courts-martial
are being tried by the military judge alone at the accused's request. The use
of the provision has decreased trial time, shortened trial records, and resulted
in a significant saving of line officer time. Other procedural innovations in
the act have been particularly beneficial in complicated cases, such as those
arising out of the Son My incident (see chapter 3).

There were 58,999 persons tried by court-martial during fiscal year 1970, a
rate of 40.05 per 1,000 as compared with 76,320 in fiscal year 1969, a rate
of 49.92 per 1,000. The following table compares totals and rates per thousand
by type for fiscal years 1969 and 1970.

1969

1970

Type

Total

Rate per
1,000

Total

Rate per
1,000

General court-martial

2,482

1.62

2,628

1.78

Special court-martial

59,597

38.98

41,348

28.07

Summary court-martial

14,421

9.32

15,023

10.20

In addition to these courts-martial proceedings, 318,200 persons were punished
under the provisions of Article 15 of the Uniform

60

Code of Military justice (216.0 per 1,000) as compared with 301,095 in fiscal
year 1969 (196.0 per 1,000).

Under Article 86 of the code, 1,349 individuals were convicted by general courts-martial
for absence without leave (AWOL) , as compared with 1,158 in the previous year.
Under Article 85 of the code, 185 individuals were convicted by general courts-martial
for desertion, as compared with 140 in fiscal year 1969. Under special courts-martial
proceedings, bad conduct discharges were given to 464 individuals for absence
without leave and to 1 for desertion.

Command attention was placed on the AWOL and desertion problems, and seminars
were conducted at installation, Army, and Continental Army Command headquarters,
which proved to be of great assistance to junior officers and noncommissioned
officers, the leaders in the best position to influence potential offenders.

Since early 1968, disciplinary problems have been on the rise in the Army,
with increased absenteeism, use of drugs, antiwar agitation, racial tensions,
and resistance to discipline. While much of this rise has been a reflection
of changing national attitudes and reflects social problems in the civilian
society, the threat to morale and discipline in the Army has been a matter of
grave military concern.

Dissent in the Army has taken various forms, ranging from the usual gripes
of soldiers to individual participation in coffeehouse activities, publication
and distribution of underground literature, participation in antiwar meetings
and demonstrations, and involvement in other forms of protest. The Army has
monitored such activity for two years. A leveling trend in the number of known
and suspected dissidents in the Army began in December 1969, and over the course
of fiscal year 1970 there was a downward trend in the number of incidents related
to dissent. While there is no evidence that these activities have adversely
affected the Army's combat effectiveness, the potential for undermining discipline
and lowering morale more than justifies continuing attention to the problems
in this area.

In September 1969 the permanent subcommittee on investigations of the U.S.
Senate's Committee on Government Operations conducted investigations and hearings
on fraud and corruption in the management of military club systems, and of illegal
currency manipulations affecting the Republic of Vietnam. The hearings disclosed
substantial irregularities and deficiencies in the operation of Army noncommissioned
officers' open messes in Europe, the Republic of Vietnam, and the United States.
The Army launched a major investigation and a number of active and former commis-

61

sioned and noncommissioned officers were named and called as witnesses. The
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs was the initial
witness in the congressional hearings, and the Secretary of the Army testified
in March 1970 concerning Army actions to eliminate and preclude recurrences
of the alleged irregularities, including tighter management and control over
the operation of clubs and open messes. Proceedings were continuing as the year
closed.

There were several developments under the Army Correction Program during the
year. To improve the Army stockade system, over 2,000 correctional specialists
were trained, authorizations were approved for the assignment of more than 1,400
additional personnel to stockade staffs, and over $8 million in new stockade
constructionbased on modern correctional concepts and designswas
authorized at four military installations.

The special civilian committee for the study of the U.S. Army's confinement
system, composed of six prominent civilian penologists appointed by the Secretary
of the Army in April 1969, published its final report in June 1970. The committee
recognized the Army's concern for operating confinement facilities in an enlightened
and humane manner. While finding numerous examples of superb leadership and
dedication at all levels, it found that the Army falls short of its goals in
many respects. To deal with the broad, complex, and delicate problems that
exist in the Army's correction program, the committee recommended substantial
organizational changes, and actions to modernize the program were initiated
during the fiscal year.

There were 21,278 cases during the year ending November 30, 1969, in which
U.S. Army personnel overseas were charged with offenses that were subject to
the jurisdiction of foreign courts. In 8,725 of these cases, the offenses charged
were solely violations of foreign law and thus subject to the jurisdiction of
foreign courts. The remaining 12,553 cases involved alleged violations of both
U.S. military law and foreign law, over which the foreign country had the primary
right to exercise jurisdiction. Foreign authorities waived their primary right
in 11,550, or 92 percent, of these cases. Of the 6,766 U.S. personnel finally
tried by foreign courts, only 109 received sentences to confinement that were
not suspended.

During fiscal year 1970, the U.S. Army Claims Service monitored Army claims
obligations worldwide; 75,924 claims against the U.S. government were processed,
with $19,754,866.85 paid in settlement. The claims service also recovered $1,842,483.67
from carriers, warehousemen, insurers, and other third parties.

62

The Department of Defense, as well as other executive agencies of the U.S.
government, is a major user of commercial communications facilities, and contracts
for package services at bulk rates. Bell System companies and the Western Union
Telegraph Company are major suppliers of these services, and the bulk facilities
and rates pricing arrangement of these companies is identified in the TELPAK
pricing arrangement. Pricing by groups of circuits rather than by individual
channels means substantial savings to a user, and the Defense Department and
other executive agencies purchase well over $100 million a year in TELPAK services.

On October 1, 1969, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company filed proposed
rate increases for TELPAK services with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), requesting that they become effective on November 1, 1969. The proposed
increase would raise the cost of services to the federal government by more
than $44 million annually.

The Regulatory Law Division of the Office of the Judge Advocate General, by
appropriate delegations of authority from the administrator of the General Services
Administration and the Secretary of Defense, was designated to represent all
federal executive agencies in such proceedings as might be appropriate before
the Federal Communications Commission in connection with the proposed TELPAK
increases. The Regulatory Law Division filed two petitions protesting the rate
increase, one on October 16, 1969, to reject or require withdrawal of the proposed
increases, the other on October 16, 1969, for investigation and suspension and
for an accounting order. The FCC, in a decision released on November 6, 1969,
granted the petition for investigation and suspension and for an accounting
order which delayed the effective date of the TELPAK increase until February
1, 1970a delay that saved the Department of Defense and the executive
agencies over $11 million. Beginning on the latter date, these agencies, including
Defense, began paying the increased rates, subject to refund should the charges
in question be found unjustified. As the year closed, the judge Advocate General's
Regulatory Law Division was preparing the government's case in litigation that
is expected to last for up to two years.

Health and Medical Care

The rate of admission for Army active duty personnel to hospitals and quarters
during fiscal year 1970 was 346 per 1,000 average strength per year, slightly
lower than the 376 per 1,000 in 1969. The noneffective rate, representing the
average daily number of

63

Army active duty personnel in an excused-from-duty status due to medical causes
per 1,000 average strength, declined to 17.6 from 19.4 in the prior year. Noneffectiveness
due to injuries resulting from hostile actions declined to 4.2 from 5.4 in 1969.

The following table displays admission rates in Vietnam and other areas, for
disease and injuries as well as for other causes, and includes the incidence
rates of malaria and certain other conditions which may cause a high proportion
of noneffectiveness in one or more of the areas.

ADMISSIONS TO HOSPITALS AND QUARTERS AND INCIDENCE OF
SELECTED CONDITIONSU.S. ARMY PERSONNEL ON
ACTIVE DUTY FISCAL YEAR 1970

(Rates per 1,000 average strength per year)

Worldwide

CONUS
Army
Areas

Oversea Areas Total

Europe

Pacific

All Areas

Vietnam

Admissions

All Causes

346

354

336

210

394

442

Disease

290

321

257

179

290

314

Injury

56

33

79

31

104

128

Incidencea

Malaria

7.19

3.04

11.58

0.29

16.83

18.49

Diarrheal diseases

20.20

14.59

26.13

12.90

30.73

34.47

Actue upper respiratory infection and influenzea

94.32

149.82

35.55

39.01

30.81

29.20

Skin Diseases

Dermatophytosis

9.52

5.32

13.98

2.34

19.70

22.83

Neuropsychiatric conditions

14.04

11.86

16.35

9.63

19.55

20.94

Hepatitis Viral

3.38

2.48

4.34

0.40

6.35

6.54

a Includes Army personnel wounded or injured
as a result of actions of hostile forces.

The Military Blood Program Agency continued to co-ordinate the service's blood
programs that support operational commanders. Since June 1966, over 875,000
units of whole blood have been shipped to Southeast Asia. The Army operates
seventeen donor centers strategically situated near large troop concentrations,
and has provided over 50 percent of the blood furnished for that area. The use
of whole blood in replacement therapy is emphasized in medical care in Southeast
Asia and is facilitated by rapid evacuation of the wounded to well-equipped
hospitals. There is no shortage of blood for transfusions in Vietnam. Requirements
have been met without assistance from nonmilitary resources. Blood is obtained
from military personnel, their dependents, and Department of Defense personnel
at military installations.

Advances under the program were made in the use of component therapy, involving
the process of separating blood into its different cellular and protein componentsred
cells, white cells, platelets, anti-hemophilic factor, albumin, fibrinogen, and
gamma globulin. In this way, the blood of one donor can help up to seven patients
by providing only the component needed. More use of

64

component therapy will not only reduce waste but be safer and more effective
for the patient.

During the year a major study of the Army Medical Department was conducted
to determine what organizational modifications might be adopted to make the
Army's worldwide medical support more effective. The study group, chaired by
the Deputy Surgeon General and staffed by Army military and civilian personnel,
analyzed the functional areas that have an impact, however slight, upon the
Medical Department's mission and the Surgeon General's command and staff responsibilities;
assessed the worldwide performance of the Medical Department under its existing
organization; inquired into trends in health care, resource management, medical
information system development, and the organization of health services within
and outside of the military; and developed and evaluated alternative organizational
structures. Analyzed were such functional areas as manpower, personnel, materiel,
and financial management; the operation of medical treatment facilities and
joint agencies; combat developments; information systems; facilities design
and construction; medical intelligence; patient evacuation; preventive medicine;
medical research and development; force development; and medical planning. These
analyses dealt with the present medical planning, programming, and budgeting
system as it related to Medical Department objectives, to organizational structure
and operating procedures, to communications and information, to studies in
progress, and to the constraints and problems that influence the Surgeon General's
broad responsibility for managing the Army's health services. As the year closed
the report was being co-ordinated with major Army commands and the Army Staff,
preparatory to submission to the Chief of Staff in July 1970.

Civilian Personnel

The Department of the Army uses civilians where it is more economical to do
so and where military occupancy of a position is not required for training or
rotational purposes. Substantial economies are achieved by using civilians in
many professional, administrative, technical, and clerical positions.

Civilian personnel strength declined by 9 percent in fiscal year 1969, from
577,045 on June 30, 1969, to 521,796 on June 30, 1970. The reduction in U.S.
citizens was also 9 percent. The largest personnel cut occurred in Southeast
Asia where the number of local nationals fell by about 9,000 employees to approximately
34,000, a decline of 21 percent. There was also a substantial cut of about 19
percent of indigenous employees in Japan.

65

The department's equal employment opportunity program received continued emphasis.
The Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff jointly sponsored the Command
Equal Employment Opportunity Institute in Washington, D.C., in March 1970. This
institute was followed by nine regional seminars to stimulate and promote the
program throughout the department.

Equally important was the publication of a departmental plan of action containing
the latest Civil Service Commission, Department of Defense, and Department
of the Army policies on equal employment opportunity and listing actions to
correct existing problems; commands and installations used this master document
to develop plans tailored to their levels.

A variety of special employment plans were emphasized during the year: the
President's Stay-In-School Campaign, Project Value, Project Hire, summer employment
of youth, Veteran's Readjustment Appointment Program, and employment of the
handicapped. Substantial progress was made in many of these programs. Project
Hire was established to promote the hiring of Alaskan natives (Eskimos and Aleut
Indians) in their home state; the Veterans Readjustment Appointment Program
was implemented during the year; and the Secretary of the Army issued a statement
on employment of the handicapped and the second annual Handicapped Employee
of the Year award was made. But despite over-all success, some difficulties
were encountered with these special programs. Project Value, designed to train
disadvantaged youths for permanent jobs, was completed but was only partially
successful in providing permanent Department of Defense employees. Reductions
in funds and spaces had an adverse effect upon some of the special programs.

The new federal promotion and internal placement policy, and the accompanying
Army program, was installed at all activities on January 1, 1970. In accordance
with an extension of the mandatory implementation date granted by the Civil
Service Commission, a number of activities used the last six months of 1969
to test and modify their programs before installing them on a permanent basis.
In addition to issuing policies, regulations, and other guidance, the Department
of the Army assisted field activities in making their transition to the new
program, holding five regional workshops at central locations around the country.
These workshops were attended by those responsible for installation recruitment
and placement programs.

As the evaluation of employees is the most important aspect of the placement
program, the Army suggested that a Department of Defense applicant evaluation
committee be established. As the year

66

closed, this committee was developing applicant evaluation programs such as
the job qualification system for trades and labor occupations, to be installed
by all federal agencies for wage grade positions by January 1, 1971.

The recruitment during the year of 285 U.S. citizens for positions in Vietnam
met most of the needs in that area. In accordance with Army policy, nearly all
were recruited from among Army civilian employees in the United States. Authorized
civilian strength for U.S. Army, Vietnam, was reduced from 787 to 706 during
this period. Many recruitment requests were canceled and others were suspended
while internal adjustments were made to reach the new strength ceiling. Another
fifty-six nonappropriated fund employees, primarily librarians and recreational
specialists, departed for Vietnam assignments during the year and twenty-three
other employees were selected to fill spaces early in fiscal year 1971.

In the field of career management, progress was made toward the achievement
of long-range goals. Six nationwide conferences were held to interpret to field
administrators the guidance published late last year on improving the management
of career records and to stimulate field interest in this unspectacular but
important aspect of the program. Basic policies and requirements for the various
career fields were updated and revised.

An improved statistical report led to refinements in reporting career management
activities and materially assisted the Army in monitoring the progress of career
interns. The fiscal year witnessed greater strides in the involvement of the
functional chiefs in their various career programs. This greater involvement
led to an improved selection process and contributed to reducing the time required
to issue Army-wide referral lists to ten days or less in many cases.

The most important step forward was the identification of 4,000 civilian positions
in career occupations to be filled at the entrance level in fiscal year 1970.
Because of cuts in funds and civilian spaces, the full extent of which had not
been foreseen when the goal was established, the objective was not reached.
The final total of career interns hired in fiscal year 1970 was about 2,100,
slightly over half of the initial objective. Despite severe budgetary restrictions,
an input of talented young people with potential for filling the Army's key
jobs in the future has been maintained.

The Army continued to work with the Civil Service Commission and the Office
of the Secretary of Defense to develop grade structure and evaluation plans,
regulations, and instructions for the Coordinated Federal Wage System. As the
year closed, conversion

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of Army wage board employees to this new government wide system was proceeding
according to plan as locality wage schedules, resulting from surveys, became
effective. Full-scale wage surveys will be completed and all wage areas converted
by November 1970.

The major event in labor relations during the year was President Nixon's issuance
of Executive Order 11491, Labor-Management Relations in the Federal Service,
on October 29, 1969. The new executive order provided a complete restructuring
of the federal labor relations program, and the Department of the Army conducted
an intensive Army-wide program to familiarize key managers with its provisions.
Twenty orientation workshops were held during the last half of the year: eleven
in the continental United States, two in U.S. Army, Pacific, and seven in U.S.
Army, Europe. Over 1,000 military and civilian managers attended these seminars
and were provided training packages to use in conducting their own orientation
for subordinate managers and supervisors.

Representatives of the Department of the Army worked closely with the Office
of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) in developing
Defense-wide guidance on the new executive order. The limited additional guidance
needed for the department's field installations was issued as a civilian personnel
regulation. Once the regulation was issued, attention was directed to revising
Department of the Army training courses and pamphlets on labor relations.

There was continued growth in the scope of labor relations activity within
the Army during fiscal year 1970. The number of exclusive bargaining units increased
from 461 in June 1969 to 515 at the end of June 1970. The number of employees
in these 54 new units totaled 14,415, but because of the reduction in force
conducted during the year, the net increase in the number of employees covered
by exclusive recognition was only 3,000 (from 157,000 to 160,000). The number
of approved agreements with labor unions rose by 30, to 273, during the same
period.

The suggestions of civilian employees and military personnel continue to be
an important factor in increasing efficiency and reducing the cost of operating
the department. During fiscal year 1970, civilian employees submitted 77,697
suggestions, 24,286 of which were adopted. First year benefits from the adopted
suggestions amounted to $74.6 million dollars. This figure is slightly lower
than last year because of the turbulence created by installation closings and
reductions in force. Military personnel submitted 54,656 suggestions, 5,612
of which were adopted. First year benefits from these suggestions were $47.1
million. This is a substantial

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gain over fiscal year 1969 and demonstrates the success which the department
has had in extending the suggestion program, for many years limited to civilians,
to its military personnel.

Since fiscal 1966, the Department of the Army has vigorously fostered a program
of long-term training and education of key civilian employees. The primary purpose
of the program is to help assure that the department keeps abreast of managerial,
technical, and scientific advancements, both in and out of the federal government.
That the training contributes substantially to employee effectiveness has been
shown by periodic formal evaluations by top managers of the installations, the
immediate supervisors of the trainees, and individual trainees who have returned
to their jobs.

The functional chiefs of the various occupations and disciplines and the local
training committees have been very helpful in the process of selecting employees
for long-term training. Through their efforts, attention is given to such matters
as potential benefits to the organization, timeliness and appropriateness of
proposed education to the career development of the employee, and balance and
fairness in helping to assure that deserving employees in some segments are
not overlooked while others get a disproportionate share of the opportunities.

Long-term training is aimed at anticipated future needs of the department as
well as current requirements. Despite economy measures, which are being extensively
applied, commanders have been urged to make every effort to continue support
of the long-term training and education program. To supplement their efforts,
a substantial pool of funds and manpower spaces is maintained centrally.

In April 1970, the Army Civilian Training Center moved into new quarters in
the Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C., equipped with an auditorium, seminar
rooms, and publication facilities.

The Army Civilian Training Center manages the Army's worldwide program of personnel
management for executives training and conducts this course for Army executives
in the Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland area. It also develops and conducts
other Army civilian training courses and provides a joint-use training facility
for other federal agencies.